The Future of Observability in Cloud Native Systems

This talk examines how observability needs change as systems grow more complex, emphasizing contextual instrumentation and the limits of monitoring dashboards. It introduces OpenTelemetry’s role, components, community, data collection, and tracing protocol.

Syllabus

Intro
Define: Functional Requirements Specify what a system is supposed to do
Observability Quality Scale
Monitoring # Observability
Systems Evolve from "Simple" to "Complex"
Complexity, like Entropy, Increases
Monitoring Observability
Monitoring is the Tip of the Observability Iceberg
More Monitoring. Bring on the Dashboards!
Highly Contextual Instrumentation
User Triggers an Action in the Frontend
Backend Calls an Application Database
Database Query Executes
Backend Calls another Backend Service
Context Connects Everything
Two Key Trends Changing that
Open Telemetry The new "lingua franca" of Observability
Open Telemetry Contrib Code Authors & Community are in the Driver Seat
Open Telemetry The Components of Open Telemetry
Scout Product Roadmap - Major Milestones
Open Telemetry How it changes data collection in Scout
open Telemetry Current Status Component Tracing Protocol